Chuggers Getting Fresh??

I-Shot-Jr · 20-12-2011 12:17pm

Some bird from the WWF stopped me last year and asked me if I knew what the WWF was.

I told her I did and that making pandas wrestle each other is sick and she should be ashamed.

Oranage2 · 20-12-2011 12:46pm

Delancey wrote: »

Folks need to realise that the chuggers don't give fiddlers about the cause or charity they work for - they are professional fundraisers who would happily work for a KKK charity if it paid.
They are all obnoxious and no one charity is worse than the other though PAWS would test my commitment in that regard.

You'd be surprised how many chuggers care about the charity - certainly the long term staff do but it may be a case of stockholm syndrome were they fall in love with their abusesr.

I remember a time we were doing a pep talk and she was going around the group

Chugger 1 -"show the people that their donations really make a difference, how much are you donating"

Chugger 2 - "€21"

Chugger 1 - "well that can send 2 children to school"

then she goes to me "how much you donating"

Me - "Nothing"

Shocked look from everybody.

Her - "Well how can you get people to donate when you don't care?"

Anyway I'm not calling anybody liars but I know if I did most of the stuff in this thread I'd be fired if a team leader seen it. Not saying it doesnt happen as I've told some small lies myself but touching somebody or following them would be an instant firing.

fryup · 20-12-2011 2:51pm

"i've signed up already"

thats all you have to say

psychward · 20-12-2011 8:39pm

Chugger scum called to my front door just now. They are getting desperate like vultures circling in on all the vulnerable and isolated pensioners who never leave their houses. Luckily I have a video linked doorbell and they wear identifying vests displaying their persona non grata status so I knew it wasn't someone important or useful. Wish I had some hounds to set on the prick.

MyKeyG · 20-12-2011 9:35pm

Not long after 9/11 a chugger tried to get me to sign up to amnesty international. He said they were committed to ensuring human rights to all. I said my conscience wouldn't allow me to support an organisation that objected to the internment of Al Quaeda prisoners. He replied 'do you not agree they have rights as humans?' to which I replied 'yep but they're buried beneath a million tons of rubble in New York'.

He walked away in disgust but at least I was rid of him.

ererer · 20-12-2011 10:24pm

I'm from Westmeath never seen a chugger before, I saw an advert for a job in the local paper. The advert said you would be fundraising for a charity with minimum wage plus commission.
Got the bus to Galway for the interview was dressed in a suit he told me to start today, I sold nine scratch cards.
At the end of the day I was told that I had to sell nine an hour to get minimum wage and was given six euro. That didn't cover my bus home.
What pissed me off was the I was working for a rehab charity an alcoholic approached me and said she wanted to stop. So I called my superior and told him a lady need help he laughed down the phone and told me to tell her to get a couple of grand.
I'm a gullible fool and a **** chugger. I felt guilty approaching people.

tony1kenobi · 20-12-2011 10:40pm

I've not lived in a City for 10 years but the same response 10 years ago still works:

Chugger: Do you have a minute bla bla.....

Me: Yes but not here.I'm parked around the corner.Follow me.

And that's the end of that.Every f*cking time.

psychward · 21-12-2011 2:41am

ererer wrote: »

I'm from Westmeath never seen a chugger before, I saw an advert for a job in the local paper. The advert said you would be fundraising for a charity with minimum wage plus commission.
Got the bus to Galway for the interview was dressed in a suit he told me to start today, I sold nine scratch cards.
At the end of the day I was told that I had to sell nine an hour to get minimum wage and was given six euro. That didn't cover my bus home.
What pissed me off was the I was working for a rehab charity an alcoholic approached me and said she wanted to stop. So I called my superior and told him a lady need help he laughed down the phone and told me to tell her to get a couple of grand.
I'm a gullible fool and a **** chugger. I felt guilty approaching people.

If you ever tell that story on Primetime make sure your face is blacked out to hide your identity and they use an actors voice instead of yours.

Hank Scorpio · 21-12-2011 4:52am

I signed up to a certain charity roughly 5 years ago, I think they take 5e every 2/3 months or something from my bank account. I never use that account anymore though.

It was my first year in college and pretty much feeling great. The chugger lad was roughly the same age if I remember right, anyway I felt sorry for your man, he was getting abuse non stop from scummers, stuff being throw at him(maccy d straws etc) and really looked demoralised so I went over and signed up.

We had to do it in Secondary school before, people donated loads. Awww the little children! They didn't know alot of the students were stealing from the buckets. I wasn't one of them!

Mal-Adjusted · 24-12-2011 1:19pm

I prefer it when people aren't in your face about it. what really gets me is the places some chuggers set up shop. I know they need maximum exposure but sometimes it's just so rude! in Galway there's usually a lad set up directly on the Eyre-square entrance to Corbets court, between the two pillars. to anyone who knows the place, this means that he's blocking off the whole ground floor unless you'd like to squeeze past him.

then there's the guys outside HMV. it's a small lane (only about 5m wide) and they have tables set up across from each other, almost funneling people between them, bellowing "help the disabled" at anyone who walks past.

there's another one or two i could mention, but they're not around that often

Discodog · 24-12-2011 1:44pm

We all complain about chuggers but many of us sign up with them - they wouldn't be there if it didn't work. The charities would love not to use chuggers but they don't have enough volunteers of their own.

Signing up DDs is incredibly effective. It's difficult to refuse €8 month & easy to forget that it adds up to €96 a year. If the amount is kept low people tend to not cancel the DD so the charity gets money for years to come.

But by using a chugging company a charity does take a risk because the chuggers are representing them. If you are in any way offended by a chugger then drop an email to the charity.

People also need to be aware that a chugger may lie concerning how the charity operates. One common problem is with chuggers claiming that the charity helps in the local area when it doesn't.

CricketDude · 24-12-2011 2:57pm

We went to Grafton street to do christmas shopping last night.
Every two steps someone was our my faces looking for money. I already give to charity, i dont want them in my face all night.
We just went home and went to the local shopping center to the christmas shopping this morning.
Between chuggers and buckets and massive parking charges, that will be the last time I ever hit the city center for Christmas shopping.

Roisy7 · 26-12-2011 2:05pm

Mal-Adjusted wrote: »

then there's the guys outside HMV. it's a small lane (only about 5m wide) and they have tables set up across from each other, almost funneling people between them, bellowing "help the disabled" at anyone who walks past.

They're the lads!

Cheeky_gal · 26-12-2011 3:26pm

I think "gettin' fresh" nowadays means "being cheeky"

giftgrub · 26-12-2011 5:03pm

I always say "No thanks"

What I want to say...and someday i will is

"Why dont you give me your mobile and I'll ring you later?"

I really hate the guys who offer their hand for you to shake it....gonna get me a buzzer.

Baky · 17-01-2012 12:27pm

If you donate €15 per month, the first YEAR of your donations will pay the chugger's wages for ONE DAY. (Just about, with PRSI etc.) The next 4 YEARS of your donation will go to pay the agency staff, recruitment and profit costs. By year 5, if things have been run properly, the charity will begin to see some of your money. So the first 900 or 1000 euro goes to paying people who are not the intended beneficiaries of your donation.

Amnesty are now running these chuggers themselves. They will put that forward as a selling point - as in - we are not paying an agency. However I happen to know for a fact that it is MORE EXPENSIVE for a charity to run a chugging team in-house than it is to outsource it to an agency (economies of scale) so in the case of an in-house team, you might be looking at 6 or 7 years before your donation actually contributes to human rights work. Remember, Colm O'Gorman is one of the highest paid CEOs of any charity in Ireland - so you have to pay him for his lavish lifestyle too.

Alwayson · 17-01-2012 1:28pm

Acquiring a new donor online and getting €50 out of them in their first year is 1/10th the cost of acquiring a new donor offline and getting €50 out of them in their first year.

Blitzkrieger · 17-01-2012 1:57pm

Hardly ever go into the city centre anymore so haven't seen a chugger in ages. The last one that approached me was a pretty lass, but I just said : "Sorry, I'm in a rush." and kept going. I was actually trying to kill some time before an appointment so sat down in a nearby coffee shop to watch her. She seemed to only approach, how do I put this politely, sad looking, poorly dressed men who were considerably above their ideal weight. Did my self confidence no good!

Scarinae · 17-01-2012 2:18pm

psychward wrote: »

Chugger scum called to my front door just now. They are getting desperate like vultures circling in on all the vulnerable and isolated pensioners who never leave their houses. Luckily I have a video linked doorbell and they wear identifying vests displaying their persona non grata status so I knew it wasn't someone important or useful. Wish I had some hounds to set on the prick.

One of these got my grandmother to sign up for his charity, she has dementia and all she could remember about it was that a 'nice young man' had dropped round for tea. Thankfully she'd used her bank details from the 60s which weren't valid, it could have been a lot worse. But yes, vultures would be an accurate term.

HowthHead · 17-01-2012 2:27pm

I have some experience of this and I have to say I've never known staff to be trained to target "poorly dressed" or "overweight" or "sad" people or anything of the sort! In general I trained staff to use their judgement as to whether or not the person was likely to be someone who had disposable income available to donate - so for example I did not encourage the targeting of pensioners. Staff are also warned against targeting anyone that could be describe as vulnerable.

That however was an in-house operation and the agencies might not be so ethical. Their job is to get the direct debit at all costs so that they get their fee. They pass this pressure on to the street recruiter, paying them a commission per new donor. In some notorious cases, staff are not paid AT ALL until they get a minimum amount of sign ups. There is one door to door agency that has staff on its books who have not been paid in weeks. AT ALL. This is quite clearly illegal, but with regard to the other staff who are on sliding scales of commission, this is also against the regulations drawn up by the charities themselves under an umbrella committee drawn together to promote best practice in on street donor recruitment. This is called the IFFDR and has a stringent codes of ethics. However, the private agencies who work on behalf of the charities, although members of the IFFDR, frequently flout the rules, especially in relation to pay and bonuses. (Incentivised payments are not allowed under the IFFDR codes.) That's where the trouble starts on the streets - where the offer of hugs comes into play - big pain in the neck for the pedestrian, reflects badly on the charity (because most people do not realise it is an agency staff member) but most of all, consider the poor eejit offering the hug - s/he is being exploited to the max - doing a really diffcult job, often for less than minimum wage and having to offer hugs to strangers to boot...

The most galling thing about the whole thing is it's a multi million euro industry run exclusively by British companies over here - so the first 5 years payments from the charity (via the donor) are all going back to the UK anyway.

HowthHead · 17-01-2012 2:32pm

Fishie wrote: »

One of these got my grandmother to sign up for his charity, she has dementia and all she could remember about it was that a 'nice young man' had dropped round for tea. Thankfully she'd used her bank details from the 60s which weren't valid, it could have been a lot worse. But yes, vultures would be an accurate term.

STRICTLY against the rules for donor recruiters to enter people's houses - but they do all the time - no matter how many times they get pulled up on it. It's disgraceful - and putting people at risk - not just the elderly grandmother - but the chugger themselves could be walking into a dangerous situation. The old sitting at the kitchen table thing STINKS. And you should complain directly to the charity that employs this agency. (The agency say they fully "vetted" all their staff - but the reality is that there is huge turnover, interviews and training go on every week to replace the ones who haven't made the sales - and the new staff are pushed out there to try their luck - you'd never know who could be sitting at your grandmother's table.)

Please make a complaint about that if your grandmother remembers the charity. If not - and you know what date it was - call Concern - they have a diary of all the charities and where they were on a certain date - you can find out that way.

Karona · 17-01-2012 4:13pm

I had a guy call to my house from Dogs Trust. He went through the whole spiel and I told him I didnt have a bank account only an online credit card and if I could donate through the website i would. He told me that I couldn't donate through the website.

When I finally got away from him, i checked the website and I could. He obviously just wanted the commission.

retalivity · 17-01-2012 5:34pm

Chugger: "Excuse me, do you have a minute to help the poor/disabled/african babies/refugees/battered women/old people/sick people/czech schizophrenics?"
Me: "F.uck the poor/disabled/african babies/refugees/battered women/old people/sick people/czech schizophrenics"

usually works

dinorebel · 17-01-2012 5:43pm

Wattle wrote: »

Make eye contact. Smile inanely. Keep walking.

I find that making eye contact and smiling insanely works better.

dubscottie · 26-01-2012 4:08am

Maybe someone could confirm what I am thinking..

I walk into and out of Dublin City Centre and on the way I can be approached by Concern chuggers in Rathmines, Camden St, Georges St and then anywhere between there and Henry St.

Its the same on the return. So in effect I can get approached by them 10+ times in a day and each time I say NO!

Now.. If a company was to cold call you on the phone or to your door 10 times a day it could be classed as harassment.
If you have to tell someone more than 3 times that you are not interested it becomes pressure selling.

So to whom would I report these chuggers? Could I report them to the Garda?
Because the way I look at it I am being harassed and pressure sold something from a company 10+ times a day every day nearly. And its not just Concern.

quietriot · 26-01-2012 4:15am

dubscottie wrote: »

Maybe someone could confirm what I am thinking..

I walk into and out of Dublin City Centre and on the way I can be approached by Concern chuggers in Rathmines, Camden St, Georges St and then anywhere between there and Henry St.

Its the same on the return. So in effect I can get approached by them 10+ times in a day and each time I say NO!

Now.. If a company was to cold call you on the phone or to your door 10 times a day it could be classed as harassment.
If you have to tell someone more than 3 times that you are not interested it becomes pressure selling.

So to whom would I report these chuggers? Could I report them to the Garda?
Because the way I look at it I am being harassed and pressure sold something from a company 10+ times a day every day nearly. And its not just Concern.

I absolutely loathe how they're allowed to freely line the footpaths, even on busy roads like in Rathmines where people have no real alternative but to come into contact with the chuggers.

It's aggressive begging at its finest and the worst part is that it works. I don't know who is signing up with these people, but when encountering their behaviour it's the very last thing I'll ever do for these companies.

I really don't understand how it hasn't been banned yet, it makes the city center a very unpleasant experience and I'm sure the tourists are absolutely horrified by it. I've never had to deal with it abroad in Europe and only encountered a very, very small number in the states. However, said chuggers were generally just rag-tag groups performing on the street and asking for donations to some cause, not just charity employees in hi-viz vests harassing people as they try to go about their day so they can get paid.

I don't get much hassle myself, when I see them approaching me I just look them in the face and say "no". The worst I've experienced recently was in New York where I was passing some charity guys and one sticks the bucket out to me and says "Change sir?" and quite politely I replied "I've no change on me, sorry". Then he replies "Oh don't worry, we take notes too". I was close to just telling him to f*ck off but I walked on and forgot about it.

I give money to a few charities but I will never, ever give a cent to any company that engages in chugging.

Stereomaniac · 26-01-2012 4:27am

Wouldn't the whole thing be so much easier if they just devised a way for them to accept money on the street?

Father Damo · 26-01-2012 4:31am

The worst part about it isnt the chugger themselves, its whatever vile cnut owns the company they work for, the guy who takes his cut from the donations.

Of course, he will dress it up as "I dont get a cut of the donations, the charity pays us a yearly fee to get results for them"

You are still a cnut. No better than travellers who scam the elderly.

Deus Ex Machina · 26-01-2012 4:51am

A chugger more or less clotheslined me on Grafton street once. I stopped and asked him what the fu€king hell he thought he was doing. He slapped me in the face lightly and told me that I needed to wake up to the real issues in the world. He very nearly had a real issue to deal with there and then, namely my fist landing repeatedly on his jaw, his head hitting the pavement and then my erect penis going in and out of his anus rapidly without consent, the dirty little beast.

quietriot · 26-01-2012 4:54am

Deus Ex Machina wrote: »

A chugger more or less clotheslined me on Grafton street once. I stopped and asked him what the fu€king hell he thought he was doing. He slapped me in the face lightly and told me that I needed to wake up to the real issues in the world. He very nearly had a real issue to deal with there and then, namely my fist landing repeatedly on his jaw, his head hitting the pavement and then my erect penis going in and out of his anus rapidly without consent, the dirty little beast.

There's CCTV all over Grafton Street, you should have reported him for assault, there would have been more than sufficient evidence to both prosecute him and ensure he never works in a people facing job again.

If you just left it, you've left him to continue abusing people at will.

Chuggers Getting Fresh??

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